Many chemical solutions have been developed for neutralizing chemical and biological warfare agents including, but not limited to, blister agents, nerve gas, and anthrax spores. One such chemical solution is known as Decon Green. Another chemical solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,957 to Wagner et al., issued Jun. 12, 2001, and fully incorporated herein by reference.
Decon Green is generally comprised of three components: (1) a solution of hydrogen peroxide; (2) a solution of surfactants, cosolvents and organic carbonates; and (3) an activating solution including a buffer and a molybdate.
The three primary ingredients of Decon Green are: (a) hydrogen peroxide; (b) carbonate; and (c) molybdate ion. Molybdate can be oxidized in alkaline and acidic environments to mono-, di-, tri-, and tetraperoxomolybdate. These species, in turn, release singlet oxygen quantitatively. The carbonate can be oxidized to percarbonate.
The Decon Green components may be in a powdered form for easy handling, and conveniently transfer to a contamination site for use. Powdered components may be mixed with water to produce a Decon Green chemical solution. In this regard, the components are typically mixed in a bulk tank, in a backpack sprayer, or any other convenient container. The Decon Green is then applied to the chemical and biological warfare agent contaminants. One common method of applying the Decon Green is through a spray application.
Various reactive species are formed after mixing the Decon Green components. However, over time, these reactive species decay and become inactive. Presently, there is no convenient way to determine at the point of use whether the Decon Green is in a fully active state or has decayed to an inactive state.
The present invention addresses these and other problems to provide a method and apparatus for monitoring the state of a chemical solution for decontamination of chemical and biological warfare agents.